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SINCLAIR/TIMEX USERS MAGAZINE 
Volume Il SEPTEMBER 1984 Number 9 


Inside... 


Spectrum Emulator 
Revisited 


TMK Color Monitor 
Expanding UDG’s 


ZX/TS Repair Guide 
—Part | 


Horace Goes Skiing! 


Vendor Reports 
Users Group News 
Classified Ads 


...and more! 


Spectrum Emulator Revisited 


In last month's article, we in- 
advertently left out the printed 
circuit board layout, so here it is 
this month with our apologies. Also 
I have drawn a side view showing how 
the chips sit on the board. 

When installing the chips, always 
use great care in positioning the 
chips in the sockets. Generally, the 
width between the two rows of pins 
are wider than the socket spacing. 
To narrow the spacing, hold the chip 
with both hands, fingers holding top 
and bottom and press one of the rows 
of pins on their side onto a hard 
surface with the pins still in the 
protective foam. Carefully bend in 
both sides slightly until the chip 
is easier to fit into the socket. 
The outward bend of the pins help 
"force" a good connection to the 
socket, so don't over do it. 

The foam is there to protect’ the 
chip from static discharges. Keep 
the chip in the foam as long as 
possible. Remember, the drier your 
climate, the more chance you have of 


Speertrum 
Capacitor ROM 
- 


resistor Tesistor 


Socket 


: a 
Timex ROM PINS to : 
plug into Original 


ROW socket 


Front view of completed circuit board with both ROMS mounted. 


...continued on next page 


+S5v 


ag 
of Socket ROMCS 
esa. Ee 
5 mF 
Te pind? “= 
of ROM2Z = 


Schematic of Spectrum Emulator 


static damage. Don't forget to pro- 
tect the chips you take out such as 
the 2068 ROM. Your best bet is to 
stick it in the other side of the 
foam your new ROM is in. Also 
remember that in any work you. do 
With any of your computers, you are 
working with static sensitive com- 


ponents; so be careful. 


More software that we now know to 
work on the 2068 with the Spectrum 
ROM enabled include: 

Tutankhamun 
Teradacktil 
| 


SUM 


SINCLAIR/TIMEX USERS MAGAZINE 
c/o 3224 NW 30th Avenue 
Gainesville, Florida 32605 


EDITOR 2.2.3.2scckiere cee i ace oland Joe Williamson 
PUBLISHERS tecct ated a cs elite d Richard Cravy 
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 
AL -MollitO® ssb% civic sas. ces eae s ..... John Monkus 


SUBSCRIPTION RATES 


Regular Subscription ............... $12.00/year 
Trial Subscription $6.00/6 months 
Published once a month 


ADVERTISING RATES 


FUl ls PAGE asnminat soa cate Et esie eae eeeeaed $50 
Half Pag@a x cowed ccc ves nme tae carrelsews eae $30 
QUarter Page esse. kes bu de ba eee LaGuhees oa $20 
Eighth: Page dicciceaw cide seine sewn bate $12 


We do not do artwork or ad layouts. Advertisers 
must supply their own. 


CLASSIFIEDS 


$2.00 per line, standard characters only, 35 char- 
acters per line. Free personal ads for subscribers 
(no dealers). 


Penetrator 
Advanced Graphics 
Chopper Rescue 
Voice Chess 

ETX 

Code Name Mat 
Groucho 


& FOOTE 1984 


+6y 38 ! 


Printed circuit layout for Spectrum Emulator. 


Sometimes the Spectrum ROM has a 
hard time initializing. You can tell 
from the start if it will or won't. 
If the screen BORDER initializes 
white then no problem should occur. 
Tf the BORDER initializes black, go 
ahead and turn off the computer anu 
try again. For me; -it-has trouble 
initializing about 20% cf the tine. 

--Joe Willjiamson 


SUM-WARE 


TS 2068 2 fee vaio. tee abe ihweltawese ve $4399 
AlphaCom 32 Printer i issick sieve ce ae cee 569% 
Timex Modem (2050) ............0.0085 $109% 
Zebra Light Pens soc .dsccrventeewisieaan $27% 
Timex 2020:'Recorder 22.2 34.0% dieses wna $399 
Timex 2090 Command Stick............. $4 495 
Cartridges: Flight Simulator or Pinball... . 29% 

GasiNO:! xs ceive dcaeies enrages $229 


810 Mammott Rd., Alden, NY 14004 
Add 5% Shipping C.O.D.OK Catalog—$1.00 


716/547-2273 


cy) 


C) 


& 


Ge 


TMK Color Monitor 


The TMK monitor/TV (model #201b) 
is a low resolution 9" monitor and 
TV combination. The unit stands 13" 
by 10" wide and 13" deep. A set of 
switches on the front allow ad- 
justments for contrast, brightness, 
color and tint, as well as auto- 
color and TV/monitor switching. It 
contains a turret style tuner for 
VHF and UHF stations. The rear has 
inputs for the tuner and _ separate 
audio/video jacks both in and out. 

Using the monitor mode, the pic- 
ture quality is excellent and even 
Tasword shows up quite well 64 
column mode when you turn down the 
color. While in the TV mode, the 
picture is degraded only slightly 
and still gives sharp characters. 

The price is in the $280-S$300 
range and available at K-Mart and 
Skipper Electronics. Better quality 
color monitors are available at 
higher prices, but Considering the 
price and picture quality, I would 
say that it is an excellent choice. 
Joe Williamson 


in 


What To Do With 
That Computer 


A common question asked owners of 
home computers is, "What can you do 
with that thing?" Many of us might 
answer "play games", "word process-— 
ing", or "keep track of finances". 
Many of us probably leave the answer 
at that, purposely vague. The fact 
is, many home computers gather dust 
more than they process information. 

While I admit that my own Timex 
1000 sits idle much of the time, I 
do have at least one regular use for 
it. About once a month, after all my 
bank statements, credit card bills, 
and other information arrives in the 
mail, I use the computer to update 
an approximation of my net worth. To 
do this I use Vu-Calc. I have set up 
several columns, each for a type of 


asset or liability, 
"Short-term savings" or 
liabilities". Each row 
column is assigned to a 
savings account, loan, or 
real property. Each month, 
have to do is update current 
or balances. The final 
used to summarize all 
columns by instantly calculating 
"total assets", "total liabilities" 
and the difference between the two: 
"net worth" (never as large as one 


such as 
"long-term 
in each 
particular 
item of 

ath: 

values 
column is 
the other 


would hope). As soon as I find a_ TS 
2040 printer, I will make a hard 
copy each month to keep track of 


long-term trends. 

This is just one example of how a 
Timex computer can be used to make 
everyday life a little easier and 
more interesting. It would be in- 
teresting to hear how other TUG 
members answer the question: "What 
do you use that thing for, anyway?" 


Al Mollitor 


WM $ Dale Systems, 


DEDUCT 10% OR PURCHASE 
OF 2 OR MORE SOFTWARE 
PACKAGES. 


USER GROUP MEMBERS 
DEDUCT 10% 


TS2068 SOFTWARE 


The following programs all use a machine code generated 
Spreadsheet format that makes them fast and reliable. 
It is suggested that a printer be used with the programs, 
but one is not required. For complete details on these 
programs please refer to the TS1000 section of this price 
list. 


TAX RETURN ORGANIZER 2000 $20.0 


CHECKREC 2000 $12 06 


STOCK WATCH 2000 


Ble. 


APPOINTMENT WATCH 2000 $12.00 


ADDRESS BOOK 2000 $12.00 


HOUSEHOLD INVENTORY 200C $12.00 


y Re Finverle $18.9 


ull color word ¢ program for the 

in design to the 

ent reviews in 

) includes all of the 

ating keys, upper and lower case, 

text loadin;; ani saving, and text 
about 450. ~ rds. 


computer 
features 
audible 

capacity oO 


TEXTWRITER 2000 PLUS 


$24.95 


A program similar tu the THATWRITER 2000 program above, 
but for use with the TS206¢ and the A.xCO Centronics 
interface. 


$24.95 
Coffey contains six excellent 
computer. Programs 
> Learning 
Hi-Res Lander, Oscilliscope, 
cup rated 3 out of & by 
iroup, 4/84 newsletter. 


This p 


Computer quality C-20 length (10 minutes per side) with 
plastic case and blank labels. 


10 for $9.50 25 for $18.00 


We pay postage. 


4 BUTTERFLY DRIVE 
HAUPPAUGE, NEW YORK 11788 


ET 


ZX/TS Repair Guide — Part | 


This begins a series of articles 
on how to repair the problems’ that 
spring up with your ZX81 and TS1000. 
Sending off to have your computer 
repaired can cost as much as--if not 
more than--the original cost of the 


computer. The majority of the pro- 
blems can be fixed by the average 
owner. 

The first problem that I will 


cover is LOADing and SAVEing. If the 
computer works otherwise, 99% of 
LOADing/SAVEing problems lie in the 
cassette recorder you are using. The 


ZX/TS machines have one of the 
poorest (and slowest) ways of load- 
ing a program. You have no idea 
whether the program is actually 
loading or just passing what it 


thinks is garbage. 

Most problems are caused by not 
having the proper volume setting 
while loading. One of the best ways 
of telling whether the program is 
loading or not is by watching the TV 
screen. The proper volume setting 
can be determined by watching the 
black and white lines on the screen 
during the more "steady scenes". The 


black lines should be slightly 
thicker than the white lines in 
between. On some sets with bad 


linearity, the lines may 
get thinner towards the 
the screen (the display 

be smaller towards the 


appear to 
bottom of 
appears to 
bottom as 


well). On these sets, try to watch 
the top few lines to make the black 
lines thicker than the white ones. 
That should give you proper volume 


for loading (typically around 3/4 of 
maximum volume). 


Left screen shows volume too low; right screen shows correct volume. 


The type of recorder is very im- 
portant. Use only a standard type 
monaural recorder. Don't use stereo 
portables, home type units or micro- 
cassettes, they probably will not 
work. Your best bet is to use a good 
quality desk-top recorder which in- 
cludes a tone control, tape counter, 
and its own power supply (generally 
in the $35 to $50 range). We have 
found that Panasonic recorders work 
with good results. Timex's works 
well and now Sears has a model out 
that looks identical to the Timex 
2020 recorder. 


Don't use a recorder from the 
closet that has been sitting 
collecting dust--it probably won't 


work. Have the recorder cleaned and 
belts replaced first before trying 
it. After sitting so long, the belts 
develop flat spots and cause an 
uneven speed, and dust can gum up 
the mechanism and cause the machine 
to eat your new tape. A recorder in 
good condition is a must. 

Tone is another important factor 
to consider. If you have a tone 
control, be sure and place it in 
the highest position possible. 

If after trying all this and it 
still won't load, disconnect the 
earphone jack and turn the volume 
down to a tolerable level and listen 
to a pre-recorded professional 
program. If it sounds dull and 
muffled, the head azimuth may be off 
or the heads dirty. Head azimuth is 
the angle of the tape data track 
with respect to the pickup on _ the 
head (should be parallel: zero 
degrees). For dirty heads, take 
cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol and 
gently clean the heads so that they 
appear shiney. If the heads are not 
dirty, the head azimuth should be 
adjusted. 

A lot of tape recorders 
small hole right above the audio 
head (front center of cassette bas- 
ket) which reveals a screw while in 
the play position. Play the tape and 
use a jeweler's screwdriver to turn 
the screw. You should hear 
"muffledness" change. Adjust for the 
most "Shrill" sound possible 


have a 


the , 


@ 


If you 
adjust 
center 


(produces the most highs). 
don't have a head azimuth 
hole, take it to a service 
and have it done. 

You should be able 
without any problems. 
tape and see if you 
wavering or a stop and go type of 
sound. If you do, have it serviced, 
or buy another recorder (the motor 
may be going). If it sounds fine, 
then check all your connections, try 
another tape, have only the ear plug 
connected for loading and the mic 
plug connected for saving (remember, 
its ear to ear and mic to mic). If 
problems still persist, try another 
recorder on your computer or your 
recorder on another computer and 
ascertain which is the problem. 

Once you have the loading of a 
prerecorded tape down, saving should 
also work. After you save a program, 
play it back with the mic plug out 
and make sure that something went 
onto the tape. If not, check your 
connections, and/or try another 


EI OAWARE 


P.O. Box 2036, Del Mar, CA 92014 
charge by phone (619) 481-3629 


GAMES SAMPLER 

MIND VS. MACHINE 

MAKING TREKS 

1,2,3 GO 

MIND BOGGLERS 

TURNING THE TRUTH TABLES 
WORKING MOTHER'S DILEMMA 
SNAKE EYES 

CRAZEY MAZEY 

KEYSTROKE MANAGEMENT 


GRIDLOCK 
BASIC BASIC 


Runs on TS1000/TS1500 
4 GAMES ON EVERY CASSETTE 


load 
play a 
hear any 


to now 
If not, 


NOOnNOOOOOOOO 


Name 


Address 


City. 
Acct. # 
© Ck Enclosed O Visa O Mastercard Exp. Date 


State Zip 


recorder. If playback 
recorded tape is fine but playback 
of your recorded tape is muffled, 
have the heads de-magnetized and 
cleaned. 

Everything in this particular 
article also pertains to the 2068. 
Although loading problems do not 
occur as frequently, they still do 
occur with the color computer. Head 
azimuth is a little more critical 
due to the faster transfer of data. 
Tapes come to you with varying 
levels of quality and may have been 
recorded on a recorder with head 
azimuth than 
yours. Some hard to load can 
be loaded by adjusting head 
azimuth slightly. 


SKIPPER ELECTRONICS 
SOFTWARE SPECIALS 


TIMEX TS2068 CASSETTES 
Checkbook Manager (Regular 19.95) ....11.95 
Math Wizardry (Regular 19.95) ......... 11.95 


of a -“pre- 


slightly different 
tapes 
the 


Vu-File (Regular 19.95) 0.01... cee ce eee 11.95 
Budgeter (Regular 19.95). 1... 0c ee eee 11.95 
Blind Alley (Regular 19.95) ........404. 11.95 
Quadra-Chart (Regular 19.95) .......4.. 11.95 
TIMEX TS2068 CARTRIDGES 
Casino I (Regular 29.95) ...... eee eee 11.95 
States & Capitals (Regular 29.95) ....... 11.95 
Crazybugs (Regular 29.95).......0.504- 11.95 
Westridge 2050 Modem ................ 119.95 


Timex TS1000/1500 16K Ram Module .. 
Timex TS1000/1500 Program Tapes 
ZX Computing Magazine...........-++6+5 3.95 
Timex Sinclair 1500/1000 Pocket Book..... 8.00 
Fifty 1K/2K Games for the TS1500/1000.... 8.00 
Explorer’s Guide to the ZX81/TS1000 ...... 8.00 
Gateway Guide to the ZX81 & ZX80........ 5.00 


.. 14.95 


We also carry Foote Software titles 


Add $3.00 shipping for mail orders 
Supplies limited/call for availability 


SKIPPER ELECTRONICS 
3708 Newberry Road — Gainesville, FL 32607 
904/373-6796 


Finally, use a good quality tape 
(not the three for $1 specials). And 
on the TS1000 make sure you are not 
trying to load a 16K program into a 
2K RAM. 


--Joe Williamson 


NEXT MONTH: Inside the ZX/TS 


Textwriter 2000 Plus 
— A Brief Review — 


Textwriter 2000+--available for the 
2040 printer at $18.95; for the 
Aerco interface at $24.95. 

Bob Fingerle's TW2000+ is a menu 
driven word processor with word wrap 
for the TS2068. The menu consists of 
seven items: 

1. initialize colors 

2. load a file 

3. start a new file 

4. save a file 

5. display file 

6. printing single space 

7. printing double space 
Most of the items are self explana- 
tory. #1 allows you to set paper and 
ink colors on your screen. #6 & #7 
helps format your text for your 
printer. The Aerco interface which I 
am using lets you use either the 
2040 or an 80 column printer. 

To me the most important 
is the "Goof" command. If you acci- 
dentally BREAK, then you type GOTO 
9000 and your menu and text returns. 
Type #5 on the menu, the line number 
you wish and continue typing as if 
nothing had happened. 


feature 


TW2000+ in EDIT mode will center 
text, add spaces, lines or single 
characters, move blocks of type, 


delete text, or repeat blocks of 
type as many times as needed. 

Here is a shopping list of what I 
would like to see added to this good 
program: right justification, im- 
bedding of printer commands, re- 
naming (so you can use all or part 
of a text under a different name), 
64 columns on the screen, and a 
means of adding characters easily 
without overtyping your text (now 


you must add your spaces manually). 
In conclusion the TW2000+ is’ the 


most user-friendly word processor 
for the money for the TS2068. I have 
been using mine for six months, 


driving a Spirit 80 printer, to pro- 
duce articles, letters, etc. 

-- Bill Woodward 
Bob Fingerle, 39639 Embarcadero, 
Fremont, CA 94538. 


A FULL TEST OF TW2000+ WILL APPEAR 
IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF S.U.M. 


Users Group News 


In this column, we will list the 
regional user groups in Florida. If 
you have a users group here, please 
drop us a line so we can include 
your meeting times and highlights 
of your last meeting. 


TUG: Gainesville, FL. Meets’ the 
third Wednesday of each month at 
3708 Newberry Rd (State Road 26) 
Gainesville, FL 32607. Call Bill at 
(904) 373-6796 for details. Facil- 
ities are provided to bring your 
system and show it off. 


LAST MEETING: On display was the 
TMK color monitor/TV combination. 
We compared its picture quality to 
a BMC green screen monitor which 
K-Mart was selling for $85.00. Both 
monitors had very clear displays 
with the monochrome having the 
edge. The color made the other more 
desirable though. We also had an 
Olivetti ink jet printer connected 
to a 2068 with an Aerco interface. 
The printer is lightning fast and 


very quiet. A catalog mail order 
service known as DAK was_- selling 
these printers off at $200 a_ shot. 


A very good deal. Richard Cravy 
showed off his new program called 
"Horace Goes Skiing", one of three 
available in the Horace series. 
NEXT MEETING: Our next meeting 
will be the 2nd anniversary of our 
Timex Users Group. We are all = ex- 
pecting to have a good time. 


ERUNING 44131 22870 3 


+5V]1.0 AMP 
A cag tyr 


“USE OF THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS AT USER'S 
SOLE RISK. WHILE THE INFORMATION WAS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT AT 
THE TIME IT WAS PREPARED, TIMEX COMPUTER CORPORATION OR ITS 


UA78L12 EE 13Z 440 AFFILIATES, ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE SAFETY 


OR PERFORMANCE OF ANY PRODUCT MANUFACTURED RELYING ON THE 


1000, F TECHNICAL DATA CONTAINED HEREIN, OR ANY LIABILITY, LOSS, DAMAGE, 
CR1 IN5821 SIGNAL OR EXPENSE SUSTAINED BY REASON OF ANY CLAIM THAT SUCH PRODUCTS 
GND INFRINGE ANY PATENT OR OTHER INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHT.” 


15V AT 1.0 AMP 


~~ HH sv 


NOTES: (untess OTHERWISE SPECIFIED) 
1) ALL RESISTORS ARE 1/4 W, 5%, RATED IN OHMS. 


335870500 


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THIS PRINT ANG “HE NFORMA* ON 7 Liv 


ARE THE PROPERTY OF "ME CORPORATION 
THE PRINT IS NOT TRANS?EROBLE AN an 
DRE BES RNEL UPON OOM 
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A LIMITED PUB s t 
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MATERIAL 


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Pr ve 


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PIB-18, J4-30 23 
PIB-19, J4-28 21 


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PiB-21, 


PIB-22, J4-25_ 
PIB-23, J4-27 
PIB-24, J4-29 


26 24 


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EXROM 


PIA-27, J4-34 


2, J4-15 


PIA-7,J4-5 


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MREQB PIA-17, J4-18 


PIA-18, J4-19 
PIA-20, J4-23 


RDB PIA-19, J4-21 


PIB- 16, J4-4 
PIB-15, J4-1 
PIB- 14, J4-16 


REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS 


J4 CARTRIDGE 


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204 6 8B 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 
1 3°95 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 
A | A A AKAAAA A 
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Z} gs} a} a} 9} ao ao} a of 9 fe lal «og a) aj Io | 
=| «| | | i] | ic | = H | 
a i I 4 io ep on oO 
S ie 
NONCOMPONENT SIDE 
TS 1000 COMPATIBLE (TIMING IS DIFFERENT) 
| o COMPONENT SIDE om ] 
= ay iO io 22 8 2 
25) | | | see bee es Be JE Ee wl go ef 
al -| | | |! H 2 3| _ 4 bl 
eee eas dee ea ale GGG GE ait EE ele 9 8 = 
Vv v VVVVVVVVVVVVVV¥VV¥V¥ VY 
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11:12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13:14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 
KAAAKAAAAA AN AANARAAAAR A ANAANA 
| lig el | al -} ol} al af a} oe ae | | 
as sz Vu yasea sed sae fase sg ee 
2! 21 9] gd 2] 2 2} ] 5 5 | a | 4 al & 
5 a s| el. . Pb Sb ae SL Sh 1 | wot bt gl 
4 2 2| ce 6 z = 
NONCOMPONENT SIDE oO 3 
z Zz 


DO NOT SCALE DRAWING 


SPEC 


SIZE 


OWN N PARSONS 


yATS 


FEB 84 


SALE 


NONE 


Pl EXPANSION 


COMPUTER CORPORATION 
WATERBURY CONN * 06720 


NAME 
TS2000 SYSTEM 


SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM 


OWG 
NO 


335-870500 


a 


G@ppettera 


t 23675 and 23676. 


Expanding UDG’s 


Have you thought that when you 
wanted to print a pattern using user 
defined graphics on the screen that 
you were limited to placing that 
pattern on the screen in multiples 
of the pixel dimensions (8x8) of the 
character? True in the horizontal, 


but in the vertical dimension, the 
tyranny of the character can be 
overcome as illustrated by this 


little program called "EXP II". 

EXP II pokes the value of the UDG 
start address for the user defined 
graphics table. The program scrolls 
the pixel patterns of the USR 
graphics. By printing characters 
that are next to each other in the 
character set on top of each other 
on the screen, the graphic character 
changes position a pixel at a time. 
This allows smoother movement of 
graphics on the screen. 

The graphic character can be any 
number of characters high. For a 
that is more than one 
character in width, a puffer or 
blank character is placed between 
the Series of -Characthers that -aAre 
printed on top of each other. Notice 


the setup of the characters in EXP 
Il. The small duplicate listing is 
to show which UDG characters are 
used in the print statements. This 
was MaGge by listing line 8200 and 
then in direct mode, print to the 
screen and then COPY. 

I hope that you find EXP's 


principle useful in developing your 
own moving graphics programs. This 
one had me scratching my head for 
days, but every time I thought about 
it, it became more beautiful. 

One other thing this opens up is 
that you can also have more than one 
user defined character set. The 
UDG's initialize at memory location 
65368 and occupy 168 bytes (21x8). 
Another set could be stored 168 
bytes below this starting at 65201. 
These starting addresses are stored 
Initially 23675 
holds 88 and 23676 holds 255 (255* 
256+88=65368) for starting address 


65201, POKE 23675 with 177 and 23676 
With 254 (254*256+177=65201). To 
utilize this, all you have to do is 
keep track of which UDG set you are 
working with when defining the sets 
and when you print them. You can 
make as many UDG sets as you have 


FOr. 


memory 
--John Monkus 


These lines are to be entered first since they identify which 
characters are UDGs in their graphics mode. 


This should appear on your screen when the program begins to run. 
This also allows you to see that, when entering the program, Graphic 
A/Graphic D/Graphic G yields the little design reproduced on line 
8040 of the program. 


Horace... At Last! 


A common complaint in the microcom- 
puter field is that those who make 
the hardware don't know how to write 
the software. This adage has largely 
been confirmed by Timex, whose 
software for the 1000/1500 series 
seldom came up to the same quality 
level as packages from independent 
suppliers. This same problem has 
also been evident with the 2068 
software. 

But at last I have gotten my 
hands on three programs that really 
can make you glad you left your 
Atari 2600 behind. They are the 
"Horace" games Timex made available 
for the 2068 shortly before they 
left the market but which many 
dealers never stocked. I was able to 
purchase mine from Games To Learn By 
(address at end of article) at very 
reasonable prices. 

Horace, long popular with 
trum owners in England, is 
unknown here. Horace 
resembles one of the ghosts in 
Pac-Man game with legs. But the 
programmers have done far more with 
him than the ghosts have ever done. 

HUNGRY HORACE apparently is the 
oldest of the three games and is the 
simplest. It operates much like Pac- 
Man but has more challenge than the 
other 2068 maze type games I've 


Spec 
almost 
somewhat 
the 


will break his skis 


seen. It's entertaining but is not 
my favorite. However, my 3 children 
(ages 13, 11, & 9) play it the most. 

HORACE GOES SKIING opens with a 
screen in which Horace must cross an 
8 lane busy freeway to rent his skis 
and then return. This is similar to 
part of the popular Frogger arcade 
game. After procuring his skis, he 
begins to ski, avoiding trees which 
(requiring an- 
other trip across the freeway) and 
trying to slalom back and forth 
through the flags to score points. 


If he 


can 
banner at the bottom he scores addi- 


the 


pass under finish 
tional points. Finishing one _ slope 
means crossing the freeway again to 
get to the next slope. This is my 
favorite. The sound, movement, 
graphics detail and sheer challenge 


are great. I brought this one along 


to our last users group meeting and 
everyone was taken with it! 
HORACE AND THE SPIDERS is_ the 


most complicated and most challeng- 
ing. Three screens are presented. In 


the first Horace must cross a_ large 
open space while jumping over a 
spider and then climbing a_ small 
hill. This immediately switches 
Horace to a scene in which he must 
cross a canyon by swinging from one 


spider web rope to another while the 
spiders overhead are busily pulling 


the ropes up (here's where I fail). 
Crossing the canyon he enters a 
black forest with spiders and webs 
everywhere. Horace is to set about 
stomping holes in the webs and then 
pouncing on the spiders which come 
to repair them. They are destroyed 


if he can step on them and make them 
fall through the holes to the ground 
below. Since I have never gotte 

past this part, I'm not’ sure what 
comes next. Again, great graphics 


O™their 


@active: 1050 "I" East Duane 


and sound with a refreshing change 
in theme from the Pac-Man and Space 
Invaders fare. 

Though I primarily use my 2068 
for its educational value and for 
word processing, Horace does have 
his place at my home. Buy at least 
one and see if you don't agree. 

-- Richard Cravy 


VENDOR REPORTS 


There are a number of reasons’ for 
the existence of magazines and news- 
letters supporting specific computer 
brands such as the Timex/Sinclair 
machines. One of the major reasons, 
from my point of view, is the inter- 
face such publications provide 
between users of the computers and 
those companies which produce hard- 
ware or software for the machines. 
We want to provide such a= service 
through the pages of SUM by provid- 
ing space for advertisers to promote 
products and by providing 
columns which review products. In 
addition we are instituting this 
column, GOTO, as a place where brief 
mention can be made of products’ and 
suppliers which you, as readers, may 
contact for more information. 

Be considerate and try to enclose 
at least a stamp or two when 
requesting a catalog. Some suppliers 
are reporting sending out up to 100 
catalogs or fliers for each 1. sale 


they make. Let's help them out by 
paying our own way. 

FAST LOADING FOR TS1000 and _ =*17TS1500 
is provided by the stringy floppy 
drive available from A & J Micro- 


drive. Designed just for the smaller 
Timex computers, the unit loads up 
to 30 times faster than a _ regular 
cassette tape recorder, is highly 
reliable and stores up to 127 files 
and 70K per tape. A starter kit is 
$169.50 + shipping. A & J Micro- 
Avenue, 
Sunnyvale, CA 94086. 408/732-9292. 


ORIGINAL TIMEX HARDWARE/SOFTWARE is 
available at discount prices from 


GAMES TO LEARN BY. 
lists Timex computers, games, and 
other Timex software as well as 
various utilities and other products 
available for the Timex machines. 
Marty Warner-Dubay is a former em- 
ployee of Timex's software develop- 
ment department; she received her 
pink slip the same day Timex got out 
of the business. Games To Learn By, 
P.O. Box 78, Collinsville, CT 06022. 
203/673-7089. 


Their catalog 


FILING SYSTEM and database manage- 
ment is available from Thomas Woods. 
ZX Pro/file (for 1000/1500) and 
Pro/file 2068 are considered by many 


FOOTE <& SOFTWARE 


NEW! BADGAMMON 2068 Full color and 


sound. 2068 version of the popular 
Backgammon game. $19.95 

2068 1000/1500 
USA S15-395 $11.95 


(Presidents and States & Caps.) 


Calorie Counter 16.95 12495 

Advanced Math 14.95 9.95 
(Calculus) 

Fun & Games n.a. 7.95 


(Tic-Tac-Toe & Hangman) 


Note: 2068 versions are more than 
just "uploads", but are remakes 
containing full color and _ sound. 


SPECTRUM ROM.........- vesOnly $2000 
Lets your TS2068 run Spectrum soft- 
ware. Just swap out ROMS or build 
the "Spectremulator" as described 
in the August issue of SUM. 


Add $1 for shipping and handling. 


FOOTE SOFTWARE 
PO BOX 14655 
GAINESVILLE, FL 32604-4655 
(904) 462-1086 6-9PM EST 


LOOK FOR OUR PRODUCTS AT 
SKIPPER ELECTRONICS. 


to be the premier filing systems for 
the Timex machines and come with 
extensive manuals. Prices are cur- 
rently $16.95 & $29.95 respectively. 

The following programs all use a machine code generated 
Thomas B . Woods , Pp ‘ O ‘é Box 6 4 1, spreadsheet format that makes them fast and reliable. 

It is suggested that a printer be used with the programs, 


Jefferson , NH 03583 . 603/ 58 66-7734 put one is not required. All programs require 16K. 


TAX RETURN ORGANLZER $18.00 


This package of four programs helps the individual tax 
payer organize his or her tax records. This package can 


$18.88 ZX81s -- BNF Enterprises have rhatine lad (eran. TUMe Sromeane aah questicnn, wists tal 
. . . be answered by referring to W-2 forms, interest statements, 
operational and functioning 7ZX81s etc. Hardcopy should be kept as tax records. 
for $18.88 each or 6 for $89.88. No CHEOKHEC #108 
ee 1 ower su 1 cab : es at this Bede remesceiGane’ Tae ceaeran Bok aigrmnsiccLiy 
, P PP v4 , reconcile the account to the bank statement. This program 
price e Contact them at 119 Foster can also be used for savings accounts. 


Street, Peabody, MA 01961; 617/ a nis 


This program keeps track of all stock transactions 


5 3 1 _ 5 +, 7 4 e including broker's fees. 


APPOINTMENT WATCH $10.00 


This program keeps track of all your appointments. 


ADDRESS BOOK $10.00 
CLASSIFIED ADS Keep track of all your important names, addresses, and 
telephone numbers, Mailing labels may be cut out of printout. 
HOUSEHOLD INVENTORY $10.00 
Maintain a listing of all your personal belongings. 
Two TS 1000's, Memotech 64K & HRG, eee Se Sey ec at aes 
EZ Key keyboard, 2040 printer with 
* TEXTWRITER 1000 by Robert Fingerle , 811695 
paper ' 12 inch B/W TV ’ cassette Rated A+ in S¥NC Jan/Feb 1984 teeues aime vest Word 
; ssin ackage we have r the with a 
recorder with spare tapes. Complete Se column printers : 
System for only $200. Dr. Charles $1000 SUPER TAPE by J. R. Coffey 4 824.95 
Lambert 904-372-5215. orti 1984 aeeudi "45 programe on one tapes 
**all programs recorded on cassette with full Snstructions. 
All prices include nos tage» NE a era tare 
Wanted: TS 2040 printer. Bring to Gaecks ‘opt money “endeE Payahyeut : 
next meeting or contact Al Mollitor Oe nS oer DEDUCT 10% 
. . AGES. 
at 3814 NW 9 Ave Gainesville, FL | “™™ 4 BUTTERFLY DRIVE 
32601. Also interested in swapping HAUPPAUGE, NEW YORK 11788 


or selling software. Bring to next 
meeting. 


SINCLAIR/TIMEX USERS MAGAZINE 
c/o 3224 NW 30th Avenue 
Gainesville, Florida 32605 


CLACKAMAS rs USE! Log 
RS 

C/O ROBERT EVANS ie 

2615 SE COURTNEY RD #19 ol 

MILWAUKEE, OR 98222